Review: A Promise in Pieces by Emily T. Wierenga

Title: A Promise in Pieces by Emily T. Wierenga
Quilts of Love Series
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Genre: Historical, Christian, Fiction
Length: 208 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A baby quilt touches many hearts as it travels from family-to-family and through generations.

After the end of World War II, Clara Kirkpatrick returns from the Women’s Army Corp to deliver a dying soldier’s last wishes: convey his love to his young widow, Mattie, with apologies for the missed life they had planned to share.

Struggling with her own post-war trauma, Clara thinks she’s not prepared to handle the grief of this broken family. Yet upon meeting Mattie, and receiving a baby quilt that will never cuddle the soldier’s baby, Clara vows to honor the sacrifices that family made.

Now a labor and delivery nurse in her rural hometown, Clara wraps each new babe in the gifted quilt and later stitches the child’s name into the cloth. As each new child is welcomed by the quilt, Clara begins to wonder whatever happened to Mattie—and if her own life would ever experience the love of a newborn. Little does she know that she will have the opportunity to re-gift the special quilt—years later and carrying even greater significance than when it was first bestowed.

The Review:

Emily T. Wierenga’s A Promise in Pieces is a lovely story of faith, friendship, healing and love. This heartfelt novel spans several decades as Clara reminisces about how her years as a nurse in World War II helped her recover her lost faith and guided her to a treasured friendship that withstands all of life’s triumphs and losses.

A minister’s daughter, Clara leaves her sheltered childhood behind when she joins the Army against her parents’ wishes. Her experiences as a nurse in Normandy lead her to abandon her already shaky faith but nursing a soldier through his death renews her belief in God. In fulfilling his dying wish, Clara strikes up an unlikely friendship with his widow Mattie. Returning to her small hometown, Clara begins a new career as a midwife but will her worries keep her from accepting the blessings that are within her grasp?

Clara is shocked by the changes in her parents when she returns home. She and her father form a close bond as they struggle to help her mother emerge from deep depression. Clara is surprised by her interest in a young man at her father’s church, but her fears cause her to reject him. An unexpected loss gives her the family she never thought she wanted and Clara surprises herself when she finds the courage to risk her heart.

A Promise in Pieces is an engaging and poignant novel with richly drawn characters, vibrant settings and a compelling storyline. Emily T. Wierenga has written a realistic story of love and faith that is sure to resonate with anyone who enjoys Christian fiction.

Although A Promise in Pieces is part of the Quilts of Love series, it can be read as a standalone story.